Sentence Correction

For members of the seventeenth-century Ashanti nation in Africa, animal-hide shields with wooden frames were essential items of military equipment, a method to protect warriors against enemy arrows and spears.
(A) a method to protect
(B) as a method protecting
(C) in protecting
(D) as a protection of
(E) used to protect

Would an expert explain why are the wrong options wrong? Why is the correct option correct?

Thanks.

IMO C---> nice question

Op A and Op B--->"a method" i feel this is a dangling modifier...the use of the word method is incorrect or it doesn't carry the idea of the preceding clause.

Op D and C---> "as a protection of" modify Items...means items as a protection of warriors against enemy arrows...etc while Op C on the other hand, In protecting modify animal-hide shields with wooden frames means animal-hide shields with wooden frames protecting warriors against enemy arrows and spears. makes more sense and clear.

Op E----> use of COMMA + INFINITIVE is incorrect (almost always)

Hence Op C...-ing form correctly expressing the idea of the preceding clause.

Edited this post as earlier i applied a faulty logic regarding AS though got the same ans C.

C and D are good contenders

animal shields protect warriors from enemy spears
animal shields as protection help warriors defend enemy spears

protect - verb.... protection -noun so added help verb

as what part of speech protecting doing its job.. is it a gerund here or a verb..
kindly help me let go my confusion...

Protecting is never a verb.

No answer choice is correct here. This Question is part of OG 12. Request the original author to look into it and fix the question, since it creates unwarranted confusion.

Answer is E.

"COMMA + Past participle"modifies the NOUN before COMMA. It was remake question from official guide question. I found it in a local GMATPREP guide. First I thought they are wrong. Seeing the official explanation again, I became sure that answer of the present version is E.

Og says, "Choice E is incomplete; used to protect would have been acceptable". And the writer has just changed the question on the basis of this statement of the official guide.

Thanks.

@GMATPerfect:

"COMMA + Past participle"modifies the NOUN before COMMA.

be careful, it is not correct. Where did you read this? I will write some Official question to explain. In my opinion, it modifies the subject. Once even Adam,a Knewton expert, replied this in response to my question.

Let me find that too. In the mean time, verify your source. WHo knows? This question has always bothered m but never found an official question.

What do you mean local GMATprep as source ? This question is from official source ?

@GMATMadeEasy,

I have read this rule from 800BOB, who is a holder of perfect score. You go here.

A present participle (-ing) after a comma can modify the entire preceding clause:

The cameras of the Voyager II spacecraft detected six small, previously unseen moons circling Uranus, doubling to 12 the number of satellites now known to orbit the distant planet. (OG11 SC71) "Doubling" modifies not "Uranus", but the entire preceding clause.

The recent surge in the number of airplane flights has clogged the nation's air-traffic control system, leading to a 55 percent increase in delays at airports and prompting fears among some officials that safety is being compromised. (OG11 SC 88) "Leading" and "prompting" modify not "air-traffic control system", but the entire preceding clause.

However, a past participle after a comma will modify the immediately preceding noun:

Dr. Tonegawa won the Nobel Prize for discovering how the body can constantly change its genes to fashion a seemingly unlimited number of antibodies, each targeted at an invading microbe or foreign substance. (OG11 SC38) "Targeted" modifies "antibodies".

It can hardly be said that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology: Alvin Toffler, one of the most prominent students of the future, did not even mention microcomputers in Future Shock, published in 1970. (OG11 SC50) "Published" modifies "Future Shock".

If you want to see it in the forum, urch.com, please go to the following link:
https://www.urch.com/forums/gmat-sentenc ... ded-2.html

Thanks for raising the question; otherwise, I would not go for analysis.

@GMAT_Perfect: oops some confusion. why i wrote so ..

Past participle modifies the noun before it , i was trying to answer something else. that is a specific case : past participle at the end of the sentence. In that case one has to be careful.

By the way, first example is a case of absolute modifier and past particple modifes each strictly speaking.

What i wanted to say in the begining :

OG 12 SC5

Diabetes, together with its serious complications,ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death,surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.
(A) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
(8) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(C) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(D) are the nation's third leading causes of death,surpassed only
(E) have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed

surpassed is modifying Diabetes. Agreed, past participle generally modifies the noun before it (your second example) but should we consider this as a rule in the end as well. One has to make a decision. This is where an expert can guide us. You know what I mean ?